


Canon Fire

by HungryLibrary



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action, F/F, Fighting, First posted to Tumblr, Ruby and her plans, always giving Weiss headaches, au Remnant at War future, how to take down an airship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 06:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3436562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HungryLibrary/pseuds/HungryLibrary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a very nice airship, Weiss had to admit.</p><p>Smooth, armored with plenty of canons on board, and such a wonderful way of weaving through the mist shrouded cliffs.</p><p>It was a very nice ship and that was making it incredibly hard to<em>shoot the damn thing down</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Canon Fire

“This is your worst idea yet!”

Weiss screamed as a red blur zipped past, trailing smoke and singed rose petals.

“This is even worse than those stupid bunk beds we used to have! Years of field experience and training has gone to waste on you Ruby Rose- You’re even more of an idiot now than when you were fifteen!”

The air ship shuddered a bit as Yang slammed into its back.

“Less talk more shooting!” The blonde called out as canon fire chased her off the ship again.

This might have been a fatal fall, given how far up they were and the depleted state of their ammunition. Lucky this was also a time when partners came in handy.

Even a tired Yang Xiao Long couldn’t resist giving a delighted shout as Blake swung them towards the nearest cliff.

Weiss saw absolutely nothing fun in their situation.

She saw graves and headstones engraved ‘fools who followed a super-caffeinated dunce into battle’. She did  _not_  want that to be her legacy in the war.

“We should at least have kept another team with us…”

The grumble was halfhearted though, drowned out by the roar of Myrtenaster’s next folly.

As much as she hated this fight there just hadn’t been a choice in the matter. Not a real one anyway.

A ship this big- Well, chances of shooting it down even with three times their number were small. And when you considered the time limit before it came in range of the city…

Ruby had made the right call.

Team JNPR was more land-based anyway, it made more sense for them to work on emergency evacuation and defense while RWBY bought what time they could.

It was still a very bad plan and Weiss refused to forgive her leader for it.

“This isn’t working.” Thank you Blake! Finally someone else with brains was weighing in.

The Faunus expended another round into one of fin joints before dodging away with a growl.

“We’re barely even slowing it. At this rate it will reach the mark before even half the people have been warned!”

Cue a burst of stone shrapnel as part of a cliff was shot apart behind Ruby.

Weiss signed a glyph just in time to boost the younger woman away from the next blast, pale lips a thin line as the ( _like it mattered anymore_ ) heiress tried not to curse over the close call.

“Careful you dolt!” She snapped instead. “The last thing we need is for a Nevermore to come hopping off its roost and murder us from behind!”

A valid complaint.

Part of why this route hadn’t been under better guard in the first place was the high Grimm density. Sadly times were changing, and apparently even monsters were worth the chance of winning the war.

Ruby reached them slightly out of breath and squinting through a steadily bleeding head injury.

Bullets were not the only things running low.

Their Auras wouldn’t be able to last much longer either, and then…

“Okay, new plan-”

The effort of today’s fight came through loud and clear in the strain of Ruby’s words.

“-Weiss and Yang, go nuts on them. Big stuff, flashy stuff, but try to hold a few tricks in reserve okay? You might need it for phase two.”

“What is phase two-?” Weiss tried to ask but was casually ignored.

“Blake, you’re with me.”

The Faunus nodded grimly, cat ears stiffening with determination. Ruby always saved the worst jobs for herself so it was safe to say Blake had drawn the short end of this stick.

“We’re gonna need to be fast.” Ruby firmed her grip on Crescent Rose, ready to launch off-

“Wait! Wait just one damn second!”

-Weiss caught her by the arm just in time to hold her back.

“What in the name of Remnant are you getting us into now!?”  _What dangerous idea are you rushing into without me there to catch you?_

Ruby grinned.

A few dark strands had come loose from her short battle-ponytail, reminding Weiss of early morning bedhead and making Ruby look young again in spite of the crowfeet crinkling the corners of her eyes.

Six years since the war had started but her answer made Ruby sound like a teen again.

“We’re going to go hunting!”

And she slipped from Weiss’s hands like dust on the wind.

“Good luck!” Yang called after them.

“Maybe Blake can catch some of those pigeon things for dinner while you’re at it? Her pillows won’t be very fluffy if I start falling off the flesh from our crappy rations!”

The salute Blake flashed her was rude, crude, and made Yang laugh as she reloaded her gauntlets.

Weiss watched them go, letting her fingers close on cold nothing.

Yang didn’t miss the little motion.

“They’ll be back.” She soothed. “Ruby isn’t going down while this ship’s still in the air. You’ll get to yell at her again soon enough… Something like,”

Weiss felt her blood pressure spike as the blonde adopted a gratingly shrill tone.

“’Oh Miss Rose! You’re idiocy is only exceeded by your massive hotness, please know that insults and grumpy scowls are the only way I know how to say ‘I looove-‘”

“ _SILENCE!_ ”

Yang cackled as the spear of ice went flying past her head.

The ice hit its real target with a crash ( _the air ship had of course been Weiss’s target, but a flinch of surprise would have been nice_ ) lending a stutter to one of six engines.

They would have to do more than make the iron whale stutter.

Ruby, and whatever ludicrous plan she had, was counting on them.

Dust chambers clicked and spun as Yang made another go for the relatively unarmored top. Fire and fire went to work, heat warping metal and making panels buckle and peel away.

It was still just shielding though. Canons traced them through mist and between looming rock spires, but the ship’s course stayed mostly steady and unaffected.

 _Come on_ , Weiss snarled to herself.  _Just die, you great floating tuna fish can._

Maybe she and Yang could finish it themselves. Maybe they could bring it down and call Ruby back before she did anything really stupid-

“Bastards!”

A last second pirouette saved Weiss from a shot that had most certainly  _not_ been from a canon.

It had been close call, close enough to knock her hairpiece clean off and send her ponytail cascading into a blizzard of snowy locks.

She  _hated_  fighting with her hair loose.

“Looks like they’re getting bold.” Noted Yang as more gunfire rang out.

“If we’re not careful they might try opening up and swarming us, now that there’s only two hostiles for them to aim for-“

-THUD-

The air pressed against Weiss like physical wall of sound.

-THUD-

“Oh man.” Yang groaned. “No, come on, I can deal with getting swarmed just fine… Don’t make me deal with this instead!”

For once Weiss agreed with her completely.

-THUD-

Lips parting in horror, she spun to stare wildly at the swirling grey veil around them, trying to see where the sound was coming from so she would know what direction not to run.

-THUD-

Was it right over them already? How could it be so loud without also being in view, just how big was it-

- ** _THUD_** -

Oh good  _god._

The Nevermore didn’t appear out of the mist; it darkened half of the entire cloud bank and tore it to shreds with the gusts from its colossal wings.

It was like seeing death itself come swooping down from above.

Weiss knew she should move, years training to be a huntress urged her to get some distance, find a good place to open fire from…

But what was the point with a Grimm this big?

The entire contents of Myrtenaster’s chamber wouldn’t even be enough to tickle the monster-

-WAS THAT  _RUBY_  RIDING ON ITS MASK!?

“ _Move!_ ” Blake’s scream cut through the silence between wing beats.

The Faunus was so tiny compared to her pursuer that Weiss would have missed her completely without the shouting.

“ _Move away from the ship, get to the side! MOVE!_ ”

Against all reason, Weiss felt her body do quite the opposite, taking a step  _towards_  the Nevermore that her partner was currently clinging to-

“Oh my god Weiss this isn’t the time to be stubborn!”

-only for Yang to almost crack her ribs tackling them out of the line of fire.

But that didn’t make any sense. Not even a Nevermore would be foolish enough to fly straight into an airship, so what use was luring it here…?

_Ruby don’t you dare._

“Ruby!” Weiss struggled, thrashing as Yang clamped her tight in both arms.

“Calm down-“

“Ruby Rose don’t you even  _think_  about doing it!“

The red speck gave a cheerful wave that might have included a blown kiss.

A  _kiss._

Suddenly red was the only color Weiss could see.

A kiss now how dare she- now when she was about to-

 “YOU BRAINLESS GODDAMN IDIOT!” Weiss would either break Yang’s grip or break every bone in her body trying.

“Ruby don’t! You can’t- I can’t- WHY EVEN BOTHER TELLING ME TO MOVE WHEN YOU DYING WILL JUST KILL ME ANYWAY!?”

Yang’s grip faltered.

“Dying..?”

Weiss lurched and slipped free-

-CRACK-

Too late.

The Grimm screamed as Crescent Rose exploded against one eye, recoil sending Ruby streaking towards the airship, bright red and impossible to miss.

A rain of black barbs followed her down.

They sank into reinforced steel like it was paper.

Shredded through flight fins. Tore into the engines and turned them into hellish blazes. Obliterated anyone unlucky enough to be on the top two decks…

And pinned a scrap of red to the ship’s hull like a butterfly on display.

There were more explosions, more enraged displays from the Nevermore, but it all had been muted for Weiss.

The ship took another volley of giant feathers and broke apart.

Fire roared up from every seam as it spun slowly into a cliff, scraping, sliding-

_-Boom-_

Igniting into one last fireball big enough to make the Nevermore turn tail and fade back into the mist.

Grimm gone, ship gone.

That left just the three of them.

Three, and Weiss couldn’t-

There was hard rock under her knees, her palms.

There was someone behind her. Someone muttering to themselves, someone staggering close to the edge where Weiss knelt.

They watched the swirling, fire-tinged clouds swallow up the wreckage.

Watched as Blake disappeared after it. Spurred by hope or denial, or just instinct after so many times spent catching each other.

There was that word again.

Did she mean herself for not following Blake’s example, did she mean Blake for trying despite what they had all seen?

Did she mean Yang for holding her back or Ruby for coming up with the stupid, stupid plan in the first place…

Coming up with the plan and not telling Weiss.

Not giving her the chance to say what a bad idea it was, never mind that it could (it had) worked.

Not giving Weiss a chance to say anything at all.

….

Blake reappeared.

There was something red in her hands. Red, but too small to be anything more than a scrap, a bit of debris blown free before the fire could burn it to black and ashes-

Weiss couldn’t watch anymore.

Her adrenaline rush must be waning because now everything hurt.

And Yang must really have cracked a few ribs as well- it was impossible to breathe. It was impossible not hunch over and curl in around the pain as if it were a flesh wound, something she could stop, that she could recover from…

“…Ruby?”

The dawning realization in Yang’s voice made Weiss want to scream.

Yes Ruby.

Yes the dolt had finally done it.

Yes she was gone, left them behind, yes she was d-

-THUD-

Ember Celica clicked and rattled as Yang reloaded.

-THUD-

Ice flashed through Weiss’s veins.

Nevermores were curious. This one was coming back for another look at the strange thing it had killed-

-Making itself a target for anyone who might have the sudden need to kill, or to at least try.

-THUD-

“Yang no-” She caught hold of the blonde but it was hopeless. If certain death and Blake’s panicked shouts couldn’t hold Yang back, then Weiss had no chance.

**_-THUD-_ **

The shadow covered them in false twilight.

Weiss drew back with a chocked hiss of pain- Yang, not just her hair but every last inch of her, was flaring up in golden flames gathering herself for the attack-

“- _look out below!_ ”

Thump!

And something black smashed into her from above.

Weiss gaped as the tangle of limbs teetered at the edge of the cliff, Blake arriving just in time to give them a nudge and send them sprawling back onto solid rock.

Plural, more than one, the new addition being world-spinningly familiar but also unbelievable…

“Ruby!”

Yang’s fire went out like a blown match, smothered by the weapon grade hug she gathered her little sister in.

“Yang, stop _… hurts…_ “ But Ruby’s strangled gasp only made the blonde hug her even tighter.

Ruby?

Up was down. Nothing made sense and Weiss shouldn’t trust her eyes but she didn’t have the heart not to-

Ruby had fallen from the sky- from the Nevermore. She wasn’t dead…

Weiss was going to  _kill_ her.

“I tried to warn you.” Blake beamed as she watched one sister try to escape the loving embrace of the other. “But neither you or Weiss seemed to be listening.”

“Weiss!”

At the name Ruby squirmed and popped free of Yang like a bar of soap.

“Did you see that? Did you see- I rode a Nevermore! It took down the entire air ship in like three seconds!”

Scrabbling over Ruby grinned and shook her partner excitedly by the shoulder.

“This could change everything! Their side is full of Whitefang soldiers, robots, and hired goons, but we’ve got almost nothing but Hunters. We know how to deal with Grimm and they  _don’t_.”

Catching her drift, Blake’s ears perked up in shock.

“You don’t mean…?”

“Yes!” Ruby laughed. “They’re not the only ones with an army anymore! We can use Grimm against them- we can  _beat_ them.”

Yang’s jaw dropped.

“You’re serious.” She started to grin too. “Holy shit, my little sister is a suicidal genius!”

Ruby snorted, blushing a bright red before turned back to Weiss.

“So, does this idea make up for today’s mess or what- Oh.”

She fell silent.

Finally the dunce had noticed that Weiss wasn’t smiling, that her expression was hard and the dampness on her cheeks were most certainly not from joy.

The brunette bite her lip, hesitated, then reached gently out to brush to the tears away.

“Weiss…?”

Weiss trembled.

There was anger, the need to yell and curse and scream.

And then there was the question.

“How.” She croaked, throat horse even though she hadn’t had time to cry.

“..How are you still alive?”

Ruby’s face softened.

“When you wear something big and bright red,” Hands shifted, pulling a frozen Weiss into a loose hold. “People always see that one thing and assume you’re attached to it… Works on Grimm too, luckily enough.”

“So then, your scythe…”

Ruby let out a low breath and buried sad smile in the snowy curtain of her partner’s hair.

“I’m going to miss Crescent Rose…. She was better than me, more durable and easier to rebuild- But it sounded like you’d rather have me in once piece, right?”

….

Weiss slugged her.

Fist met face hard enough to send the younger woman toppling over backwards.

“ _You complete and utter ass!_ ”

Ruby wheezed and rolled over, trying to get some air back into her winded lungs.

The newly broken nose didn’t help.

“Make up for today?” Blake and Yang edged away as Weiss loomed to her feet, shaking with fury.

“You specifically almost got yourself killed you MORON! Worse, you didn’t even bother to tell me- tell us- the plan before running right into it!”

Guilt became Ruby’s dominant feature.

Years of dealing with Weiss meant that that wasn’t enough to keep her from retorting-

 “Well, ‘ou would ‘ave just argruued wif me.”

“Because you’re an idiot and deserve to be argued with!”

“Wasste og time-“

“YOU COULD HAVE SPARED A FEW SECONDS!”

The fight started in earnest and Yang propped herself up on her elbows with a happy sigh.

“Ahh, young love.”

She didn’t have to look at her partner to know that golden eyes were rolling, both at Yang and at the bickering couple before them.

With a wince Yang stretched out a crick in her neck.

Man those two were cute, but they sure made her feel old…

“Blakey, you’d better marry me while I’m still young and beautiful.” Battle rush and rage gone, Yang’s muscles felt like water and her butt was almost definitely glued to the ground.

“The way things are going these two are going to start giving me gray hairs.”

The dusky woman chuckled, scooting over to prop Yang up with a somewhat shaky arm.

“Okay.”

Yang leaned back into her partner, content to stay right there for the next few hours, hunger and clammy dampness be damned.

…It took a few moments for Blake’s affirmative to register.

“Wait, you said yes?

“Yes.”

“So… we’re engaged?”

“That sounds about right.”

Wide eyed, Yang fiddled with a lock of extra curly hair.

Adrenaline nothing- now her heart really  _was_  pounding fit to burst. She should probably say something, something romantic or memorable…

“… This is going to be the best ‘how my wife proposed’ story  _ever_.”

Thank goodness Blake loved her and only groaned a little bit before giving her partner-slash-fiancée a kiss.


End file.
